Specific Challenge: to lay the foundations for radically new future technologies of any kind from visionary interdisciplinary collaborations that dissolve the traditional boundaries between sciences and disciplines, including the social sciences and humanities. This topic also encourages the driving role of new actors in research and innovation, including excellent young researchers, ambitious high-tech SMEs and first-time participants to FET under Horizon 2020 from across Europe.

Scope: proposals are sought for cutting-edge high-risk / high-impact interdisciplinary research with all of the following essential characteristics ("FET gatekeepers"):

Radical vision: the project must address a clear and radical vision, enabled by a new technology concept that challenges current paradigms. In particular, research to advance on the roadmap of a well-established technological paradigm, even if high-risk, will not be funded.

Breakthrough technological target: the project must target a novel and ambitious science-to-technology breakthrough as a first proof of concept for its vision. In particular, blue-sky exploratory research without a clear technological objective will not be funded.

Ambitious interdisciplinary research for achieving the technological breakthrough and that opens up new areas of investigation. In particular, projects with only low-risk incremental research, even if interdisciplinary, will not be funded.

The inherently high risks of the research proposed shall be mitigated by a flexible methodology to deal with the considerable science-and-technology uncertainties and for choosing alternative directions and options.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 3 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Expected Impact:

Scientific and technological contributions to the foundation of a new future technology

Potential for future social or economic impact or market creation.

Building leading research and innovation capacity across Europe by involvement of key actors that can make a difference in the future, for example excellent young researchers, ambitious high-tech SMEs or first-time participants to FET under Horizon 20204.

Specific Challenge: to lay the foundations for radically new future technologies of any kind from visionary interdisciplinary collaborations that dissolve the traditional boundaries between sciences and disciplines, including the social sciences and humanities. This topic also encourages the driving role of new actors in research and innovation, including excellent young researchers, ambitious high-tech SMEs and first-time participants to FET under Horizon 2020 from across Europe.

Scope: proposals are sought for cutting-edge high-risk / high-impact interdisciplinary research with all of the following essential characteristics ("FET gatekeepers"):

Radical vision: the project must address a clear and radical vision, enabled by a new technology concept that challenges current paradigms. In particular, research to advance on the roadmap of a well-established technological paradigm, even if high-risk, will not be funded.

Breakthrough technological target: the project must target a novel and ambitious science-to-technology breakthrough as a first proof of concept for its vision. In particular, blue-sky exploratory research without a clear technological objective will not be funded.

Ambitious interdisciplinary research for achieving the technological breakthrough and that opens up new areas of investigation. In particular, projects with only low-risk incremental research, even if interdisciplinary, will not be funded.

The inherently high risks of the research proposed shall be mitigated by a flexible methodology to deal with the considerable science-and-technology uncertainties and for choosing alternative directions and options.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 3 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Expected Impact:

Scientific and technological contributions to the foundation of a new future technology

Potential for future social or economic impact or market creation.

Building leading research and innovation capacity across Europe by involvement of key actors that can make a difference in the future, for example excellent young researchers, ambitious high-tech SMEs or first-time participants to FET under Horizon 20204.

Scope: Short individual or collaborative actions focused on the non-scientific aspects and the early stages of turning a result of an ongoing or recently finished project funded through FET under FP7 or Horizon 20206 into a genuine innovation with socio-economic impacts. The precise link with the relevant FET project and the specific result for which a FET Innovation Launchpad proposal is intended, are to be explicitly described in the proposal. This topic does not fund research or activities that are/were already foreseen in the original FET project. Activities proposed should reflect the level of maturity of the result to be taken up. They can include the definition of a commercialisation process, market and competitiveness analysis, technology assessment, verification of innovation potential, consolidation of intellectual property rights, business case development. Proposals can include activities with, for instance, partners for technology transfer, licence-takers, investors and other sources of financing, societal organisations or potential end-users. Limited low-risk technology development (for instance for demonstration, testing or minor adjustment to specific requirements) can be supported as long as it has a clear and necessary role in the broader proposed innovation strategy and plan.The Commission considers that proposals for actions no longer than 18 months and requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 0.1 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately.Expected Impact:

Scope: Short individual or collaborative actions focused on the non-scientific aspects and the early stages of turning a result of an ongoing or recently finished project funded through FET under FP7 or Horizon 20206 into a genuine innovation with socio-economic impacts. The precise link with the relevant FET project and the specific result for which a FET Innovation Launchpad proposal is intended, are to be explicitly described in the proposal. This topic does not fund research or activities that are/were already foreseen in the original FET project. Activities proposed should reflect the level of maturity of the result to be taken up. They can include the definition of a commercialisation process, market and competitiveness analysis, technology assessment, verification of innovation potential, consolidation of intellectual property rights, business case development. Proposals can include activities with, for instance, partners for technology transfer, licence-takers, investors and other sources of financing, societal organisations or potential end-users. Limited low-risk technology development (for instance for demonstration, testing or minor adjustment to specific requirements) can be supported as long as it has a clear and necessary role in the broader proposed innovation strategy and plan.The Commission considers that proposals for actions no longer than 18 months and requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 0.1 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately.Expected Impact:

Stimulating, supporting and rewarding an open and proactive mind-set towards exploitation beyond the research world.

Contributing to the competitiveness of European industry/economy by seeding future growth and the creation of jobs from FET research.

Type of Action: Coordination and support action

Energia << ICT

SU-ICT-04-2019

Quantum Key Distribution testbed

d.l. 19-11-2019

Call

H2020-SU-ICT-2019Cybersecurity

Orçamento

84,00 M€

Specific Challenge: Europe's economic activities and Europe's single market is dependent on well-functioning underlying digital infrastructures, services and data integrity, not the least for critical infrastructures like energy, transport, health, finance, etc. Current security of the digital infrastructures and services will soon be under threat of no longer providing long-term security. Confidentiality of data and communications, authentication, as well as the long-term integrity of stored data have to be guaranteed, even in the advent of quantum computers. Introducing Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) in the underlying infrastructure has the potential to maintain end-to-end security in the long-term.

Scope: Building an experimental platform to test and validate the concept of end-to-end security, providing quantum key distribution as a service. Proposals should develop an open, robust, reliable and fully monitored metropolitan area testbed network (ring or mesh configuration). The aim is to integrate equipment, components, protocols and network technologies with QKD systems and current digital security and communication networks. Where necessary, R&D activities can be addressed. The testbed should be modular, to test different components, configurations and approaches from multiple suppliers and benchmark the different approaches against overall performance. The proposed solutions should demonstrate resistance against known hacking techniques, including quantum hacking techniques. The testbed should make use as much as possible of existing network infrastructure (fibres and/or satellites), provide a quantum key exchange rate compatible with concrete application requirements over metropolitan distances (i.e. of at least 40km). The proposed testbed should demonstrate different applications and use cases of QKD (including for authentication), optimizing end-to-end security rather than the security of individual elements.

Proposals should include an assessment of the applications and parts of the infrastructure for which the integration of QKD is economically justified, as well as an assessment of the minimal acceptable key rate for each application and its total cost of ownership.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 15 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

For grants awarded under this topic the Commission may object to a transfer of ownership or the exclusive licensing of results to a third party established in a third country not associated to Horizon 2020. The respective option of Article 30.3 of the Model Grant Agreement will be applied.